THE widow of former Carrian trial judge Mr Justice Barker yesterday revealed he was broke when he died. She asked people to stop speculating that he may have taken a bribe. Mrs Jeanne Barker, 60, appealed to the South China Morning Post to set the record straight because she was sick of hearing the rumours that she must be rich. ''People seem to think I have a great deal of money. But his estate is completely penniless,'' she said. Mr Dennis Barker, 63, retired to Cyprus in January 1989 after he resigned from the judiciary in disgrace following his acquittal of six defendants in the Carrian trial. His decision was severely criticised on appeal. There were rumours that he may have taken a bribe, but no evidence was found. Mrs Barker said yesterday that the former appeal court judge's estate was finally being sorted out. ''There are so many debts all over the world, England, Hongkong and Cyprus. Undoubtedly everything will have to be sold,'' Mrs Barker said. Mr Barker apparently had a lot of debts before he went to Cyprus, much of it owed to solicitors. In Hongkong there was a large solicitors' bill outstanding, she said. His house in Cyprus, in which she is currently living, has to be sold as it was not fully paid for. His 1978 Rolls-Royce, which was worth Cyprus GBP10,000 (HK$84,000), will be sold, and also his furniture. The proceeds will pay off the bills. She explained that he had owed British GBP8,000 (HK$92,000) in alimony to his first wife, Mrs Dafnis Barker, and that had now been paid. Mrs Barker, his third wife and sole beneficiary, said although she knew he had had trouble in Hongkong, they had not talked about the Carrian case. It was after the funeral that people started saying that she was rich. One story claimed he took $200 million in bribes, she said. ''If he took the money, it's not in his estate,'' she said. ''That's what I want people in Hongkong to know - he didn't take any money,'' she said. Mrs Barker said that apart from her income from teaching, she has a pension from her first husband's company. When the house is sold, she will have nowhere to live. She knew Mr Barker for only a few months after his retirement. They met in Cyprus and had been married for less than four months when he died in a car crash in November 1989. She said shortly before his death he had given up drinking and his whole life was coming together again. ''I only knew him a short time. But I knew a lovely, kind, caring, gentle man. I don't think he would have taken anything,'' she said. ''I want to set the record straight. It's so sad if he's accused of something he did not do,'' she said.
